Huda employees go on indefinite strike over non-cancellation of staffers’ suspension, work suffers

Five employees, posted at the estate office in Sector 34, were suspended by Huda chief administrator J Ganesan on Friday over pendency of files.

Work at the Sector 14 and Sector 34 offices of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) suffered as employees, of the rank of junior engineer and below, went on an indefinite strike on Wednesday after the Huda administration failed to cancel the suspension order of their five colleagues.

Employees of the Haryana Urban Development Authority protested at the Sector 14 office on Wednesday against the suspension of five of their colleagues. (HT Photo)

Huda authorities, on Tuesday, had said they would try to reinstate the five suspended employees by Wednesday afternoon. The assurance came after members of the Huda employees’ union gathered at the Sector 14 office in protest.

On Wednesday, nearly 200 employees gathered at Huda’s Sector 14 office around 1pm.

District president of Huda workers’ ekta committee Mukesh Kumar said the employees will not work in office till Huda cancels the suspension.

“We waited for Huda administrator Yashpal Yadav to come and deliver on the promise he had made on Tuesday. Huda officials are not inclined to cancel suspension of our five colleagues who have been suspended for wrong reasons and due to mistakes or wrong calculations by the IT department,” Kumar said.

The suspended employees include two junior engineers (JEs) and three clerks.

The action was taken after he received a complaint from the state IT department. The pendency is reflected on Huda’s internal portal.

Commenting on the issue, Ganesan said, “They (five suspended employees) have been suspended because of heavy pendency (of files). They were warned earlier of action in case things do not improve; they did not pay heed. The pendency is monitored from the CM’s dashboard and causes a lot of inconvenience to the public in cases of delay. However, we will resolve it soon.”

Meanwhile, citizens bore the brunt of the Huda employees’ strike as many returned disappointed from the offices in sectors 34 and 14.

Surender Kumar, a citizen, said, “I had to collect my refund but due to the strike by employees, I had to return from the Sector 34 office and my work is still not complete. I wish employees resume work so that people do not suffer.”